There are conditions we can perceive easily, or in a more conscious way, such as the beauty of a shape, the light that enters or is missing from our spaces, colours, smells, textures, cold, heat, and so on, which can make us feel better, at ease, comfortable. However, there are others we are unable to perceive or identify, which can disrupt the harmony and wellbeing we seek. In the pursuit of optimising time — whether in transport, drying, curing, sizing, in adjusting prices to make them accessible to everyone, in ease of assembly (do it yourself), and in short-lived trends — we have left behind years of experience, effective building systems, material optimisation, durability, forms, proportions and quality. In short, everything that makes them belong to a place: identity. The place where we are situated gives us all the guidelines for how we should create that space — optimal orientation, climate, local materials, construction system, community, and so on. If we look at birds’ nests in nature, we can see that each species and area has certain needs that make the results completely different. If we look at our surroundings, we can see that we are embedded in uniform, monochrome, lifeless structures, truly inert and lacking identity. And everything we have gradually set aside, overlooked or eliminated has a purpose: harmony with our surroundings.
If we let ourselves be carried away by time, price, standardisation and trends, without considering the place and our own needs, that comfortable space may, without our intending it, stop being so comfortable in the medium term. The excessive use of plastics — whether as a component of another material or as a product in itself — countless chemical compounds, imbalances in humidity and temperature, poor electrical installation, excessive use of appliances, poor ventilation, and so on, can lead us to remain in toxic or unhealthy spaces and cause a wide range of adverse symptoms that we never link to the space we inhabit — allergies, headaches, eye irritation, skin eczema, fatigue, endocrine and reproductive effects, a weakened immune system, and so on, as well as emerging symptomatic conditions such as chronic fatigue, multiple chemical sensitivity or electrosensitivity. This is why it is necessary to commit to recovering tradition, the local, the authentic, the natural, even if that means losing (or, in the long run, gaining) a little time to become aware of the real goal: providing ourselves with truly beneficial spaces — spaces that breathe, that vibrate, that are balanced and harmonious. Health is a dimension rarely considered in the creation of spaces, and we should value it properly, since we are an active part of this envelope and of the void it generates.
For all these reasons, La Companyia Verda is committed to designing and building a healthy indoor space.
